Inelastic final-state interaction

The final-state interaction in multichannel decay processes is sytematically studied with application to B decay in mind. Since the final-state inteaction is intrinsically interwoven with the decay interaction in this case, no simple phase theorem like "Watson's theorem" holds for experimentally observed final states. We first examine in detail the two-channel problem as a toy-model to clarify the issues and to remedy common mistakes made in earlier literature. Realistic multichannel problems are too challenging for quantitative analysis. To cope with mathematical complexity, we introduce a method of approximation that is applicable to the case where one prominant inelastic channel dominates over all others. We illustrate this approximation method in the amplitude of the decay B to pi K fed by the intermediate states of a charmed meson pair. Even with our approximation we need more accurate information of strong interactions than we have now. Nonethless we are able to obtain some insight in the issue and draw useful conclusions on general fearyres on the strong phases.Comment: The published version. One figure correcte

Stability of adhesion clusters under constant force

We solve the stochastic equations for a cluster of parallel bonds with shared constant loading, rebinding and the completely dissociated state as an absorbing boundary. In the small force regime, cluster lifetime grows only logarithmically with bond number for weak rebinding, but exponentially for strong rebinding. Therefore rebinding is essential to ensure physiological lifetimes. The number of bonds decays exponentially with time for most cases, but in the intermediate force regime, a small increase in loading can lead to much faster decay. This effect might be used by cell-matrix adhesions to induce signaling events through cytoskeletal loading.Comment: Revtex, 4 pages, 4 Postscript files include

Adapting Urban Water Systems to Manage Scarcity in the 21st Century: The Case of Los Angeles.

Acute water shortages for large metropolitan regions are likely to become more frequent as climate changes impact historic precipitation levels and urban population grows. California and Los Angeles County have just experienced a severe four year drought followed by a year of high precipitation, and likely drought conditions again in Southern California. We show how the embedded preferences for distant sources, and their local manifestations, have created and/or exacerbated fluctuations in local water availability and suboptimal management. As a socio technical system, water management in the Los Angeles metropolitan region has created a kind of scarcity lock-in in years of low rainfall. We come to this through a decade of coupled research examining landscapes and water use, the development of the complex institutional water management infrastructure, hydrology and a systems network model. Such integrated research is a model for other regions to unpack and understand the actual water resources of a metropolitan region, how it is managed and potential ability to become more water self reliant if the institutions collaborate and manage the resource both parsimoniously, but also in an integrated and conjunctive manner. The Los Angeles County metropolitan region, we find, could transition to a nearly water self sufficient system

Noise spectroscopy of optical microcavity

The intensity noise spectrum of the light passed through an optical microcavity is calculated with allowance for thermal fluctuations of its thickness. The spectrum thus obtained reveals a peak at the frequency of acoustic mode localized inside the microcavity and depends on the size of the illuminated area. The estimates of the noise magnitude show that it can be detected using the up-to-date noise spectroscopy technique.Comment: 10 pages, 1 figur

Single shot longitudinal bunch profile measurements by temporally resolved electro-optical detection

For the high gain operation of a SASE FEL, extremely short electron bunches are essential to generate sufficiently high peak currents. At the superconducting linac of FLASH at DESY, we have installed an electro- optic measurement system to probe the time structure of the electric field of single ~100 fs electron bunches. In this technique, the field induced birefringence in an electro-optic crystal is encoded on a chirped picosecond laser pulse. The longitudinal electric field profile of the electron bunch is then obtained from the encoded optical pulse by a single shot cross correlation with a 35 fs laser pulse using a second harmonic crystal (temporal decoding). An electro-optical signal exhibiting a feature with 118 fs FWHM was observed, and this is close to the limit of resolution due to the material properties of the particular electro-optic crystal used. The measured electro-optic signals are compared to bunch shapes simultaneously measured with a transverse deflecting cavity

Benchmarking of electro-optic monitors for femtosecond electron bunches

The longitudinal profiles of ultrashort relativistic electron bunches at the soft x-ray free-electron laser FLASH have been investigated using two single-shot detection schemes: an electro-optic (EO) detector measuring the Coulomb field of the bunch and a radio-frequency structure transforming the charge distribution into a transverse streak. A comparison permits an absolute calibration of the EO technique. EO signals as short as 60 fs (rms) have been observed, which is a new record in the EO detection of single electron bunches and close to the limit given by the EO material properties

Evidence for variation in the effective population size of animal mitochondrial DNA

Background: It has recently been shown that levels of diversity in mitochondrial DNA are remarkably constant across animals of diverse census population sizes and ecologies, which has led to the suggestion that the effective population of mitochondrial DNA may be relatively constant. Results: Here we present several lines of evidence that suggest, to the contrary, that the effective population size of mtDNA does vary, and that the variation can be substantial. First, we show that levels of mitochondrial and nuclear diversity are correlated within all groups of animals we surveyed. Second, we show that the effectiveness of selection on non-synonymous mutations, as measured by the ratio of the numbers of non-synonymous and synonymous polymorphisms, is negatively correlated to levels of mitochondrial diversity. Finally, we estimate the effective population size of mitochondrial DNA in selected mammalian groups and show that it varies by at least an order of magnitude. Conclusions: We conclude that there is variation in the effective population size of mitochondria. Furthermore we suggest that the relative constancy of DNA diversity may be due to a negative correlation between the effective population size and the mutation rate per generation

Inverted Martian Craters in Lineated Glacial Valleys, Ismenius Lacus Region, Mars

We studied small, uniquely-shaped craters found on the surface of lineated terrain in the Ismenius Lacus region of Mars. By utilizing MOC and THEMIS satellite images, we located terrain including lineations (viscous flow features), smoothing of topography, and morphologic features such as polygons and gullies, which appear to be strong evidence of preexisting ice deposits